You’ll Need Visuals (01/22/2024)

Fr. Paul was what we call a “second vocation” – he was in his 40s and had served in the military and as an attorney and aide to the governor of Wisconsin. His path was even more unusual in that he felt he’d been called to the priesthood, and he realized he’d need to become a Catholic first. In 1988, Fr. Paul’s first assignment as a newly ordained priest was Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary where I was serving as the director of faith formation. He came to me in September and asked for help; he’d been assigned to kindergarten and 1st grade for religion classes. I smiled and told him, “You’ll need visuals.”

I explained to him that at that early age, they couldn’t handle a whole class of head stuff or audio presentations, no matter how engaging a speaker he was. I explained that it helped to have visuals the children could see and even better – touch. And so, he went in search of a special teaching box to carry with him to class every week and for “visuals.” And within a few months, he was hooked.

We all need visuals, really, not just the very young. My favorite poem isn’t by John Donne or Emily Dickinson. It is by a man named Edgar Guest, and it is called “Sermons We See.” It begins with, “I’d rather see a sermon than hear one any day, I’d rather you would walk with me than merely show the way.” It’s been my mantra, sort of, since my sister introduced me to it when I was in the 9th grade.

Sermon deliverers, in my experience, often don’t live what they tell me I should. I know for a fact, the best sermons I’ve ever received didn’t involve a single word: my parents praying before mass; my father helping our housekeeper get a nursing degree; my mother’s dedication to raising money for a clinic that helped disabled children; the woman at our parish that helps set up for funeral luncheons; the woman who asks how I am and then prays with me rather than telling me she’ll pray for me; the woman who dedicates hours every week to the local food pantry; the man with three toddlers who brings his family to church every Sunday; the man who brought his aged mother to mass every Sunday and sat with her, caring for her throughout the service; the 5th grader who always checks to see if a server is needed; etc.

We have the scriptures and the catechism. We have books we can read that give us answers to our faith questions. But it is in the sacraments with visuals representing that which we cannot see that we remember and seek to live. We hear the homilies, but we prefer to watch the homily giver in our midst. We’re human. We need visuals. That’s why every Catholic Church has a crucifix. We need visuals.

This week I have been blessed by so many “visuals” of the love of others like my coffee cup from a niece, my ring from my husband, my junk journal from my daughter, my coaster on my desk from my son when he was in junior high, the little plaque from my daughter resting against a potted plant, etc. But there have also been the man at the grocery store who helped me get the item he saw I couldn’t reach, the usher who offered to bring me communion because I couldn’t go to the front of church because of the poinsettias, the couple who invited me to dinner at their home. Visuals are all around me. I am blessed.

I pray that you, too, are blessed by an abundance of visuals that remind you of the power of the Spirit at work in others and of the power and presence of the LORD, manifestations of His great love, at work around you and through others. I pray that we all recognize the power of “visuals” and act out what we believe for others to see out of love of the LORD and love for one another.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.